updated 04:20 am EST, Sun December 25, 2011

MIPS-based Ainol Novo7 up for pre-order for $120

A couple of online resellers have placed the Ainol Novo7 Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) tablet [video embedded below] up for pre-order at $120. Both PandaWill and Merimobiles have listed the super-cheap 7-inch capacitive touchscreen tablet on their respective webstores. The Novo7 is the product of a partnership between US-based MIPS Technologies, using its low-cost MIPS-based mobile chip design, and China's Ingenic Semiconductor.

Ingenic have utilized MIPS architecture to create the Ingenic JZ4770 Xburst 1GHz processor that is paired with the GC860 GPU. These combine with 512MB of RAM to power Ice Cream Sandwich on the device and deliver 1080p playback over HDMI. On board storage is 8GB, while this can be extended by 16GB with a TF card. The device centers on a 5-point multi-touch capacitive display with a resolution of 800x480.

Connectivity is provided by way of 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and 3G/WCDMA is supported over a user supplied USB dongle. The battery is 4000MAh and is good for around 5-6 hours of video playback.

If the device performs as well as it appears to in the video clips, for the price, it could well pose a threat to the Amazon Kindle Fire, in particular. The Kindle Fire made waves when it was introduced for $200, while the Ainol Novo7 undercuts this price by around $80 and runs a non-customized version Android 4.0. [viaAndroid Community]